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Dutch PM to pay official visit to Türkiye, meet President Erdogan

Bilateral relations and further cooperation opportunities will be discussed in the meetings, during which the Russia-Ukraine conflict is expected to top the agenda.

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The two leaders have been in contact over the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is set to pay an official visit to Türkiye at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The visit will take place on Tuesday, when Rutte will be greeted with an official ceremony, followed by meetings and a press conference, an official statement published by Türkiye's Communications Directorate said.

In meetings during the visit, bilateral relations will be reviewed in all dimensions, and steps that can be taken to further cooperation will be discussed, according to the statement.

In addition to bilateral relations, the leaders are also set to exchange views on current regional and international issues, especially Ukraine, it said.

Rutte was among more than 20 world leaders that Erdogan held phone calls with as part of Türkiye's diplomatic efforts towards achieving peace in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

📞: In the run-up to my visit to Turkey I just spoke with President @ZelenskyyUa about the current state of the Ukrainian conflict. We also looked ahead to the NATO summit later this week. The Netherlands remains unwavering in its support for Ukraine.
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) March 21, 2022

Good political, economic relations

Two countries enjoyed good political relations and even signed “The Memorandum of Understanding on the Intensification of Relations between Türkiye and the Netherlands and the Establishment of a Turkish-Dutch Conference" in 2008.

However, Ankara and The Hague relations soured after Turkish ministers were banned from campaigning among Turkish nationals living in the Netherlands during Türkiye's constitutional referendum campaign in 2017.

Despite that, in 2021, bilateral trade volume in goods and services between the two countries stood at $11 billion 280 million, with Turkish exports at $6,77 billion and imports at $4,51 billion, according to the Turkish government data.

The Netherlands is also the country with most foreign investments in Türkiye. As of 2021, direct investments from the Netherlands to Türkiye stood at $27,28 billion.

The total amount of direct investments from Türkiye to the Netherlands stood at $15,57 billion.

At the same time nearly 25,000 Turkish entrepreneurs have been operating in the Netherlands.

A huge part of the connection between these two countries is the Turkish diaspora in the Netherlands, which is made up of approximately 300,000 citizens.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies